How much do electricians charge per hour in 2026?

Published US ranges for residential work run $75–150 per hour, with service or trip fees of $79–200. Midwest and South sit at $65–100, Northeast and West higher. Your own rate should come from your costs: wage plus burden, plus overhead divided by billable hours, divided by one minus your target margin.

Should electricians charge flat rate or time and materials?

Customers prefer a firm number and flat rate rewards speed. Build flat prices from hours times your loaded rate plus materials at markup plus a trip fee. Keep time and materials for troubleshooting. Some states, California among them, require a stated total price on residential home-improvement contracts — check your state.

What markup do electricians put on materials?

Forum consensus is about 30%; many service shops run 50%, and small parts commonly carry 100–300% because the supply-house trip costs more than the part.

How much should I charge to install a ceiling fan?

Published 2026 ranges are $312–580 for a fan install with an existing fan-rated box, fan supplied by the customer. At a $91 loaded rate and two hours of labor the cost-based price is about $210 plus a trip fee — which is why cost-based pricing needs a margin check against the market.

How to price electrical jobs in 2026

The rates the market is paying, the formula that turns your costs into a flat rate, and benchmarks for 35 residential jobs. If you'd rather just build the book, use the builder.

What the market is paying (US, 2026)

These are homeowner-facing figures from public guides, gathered August 2026. They describe what customers are being charged, not what you should charge. Dates matter. Fixr's table is January 2025, Angi and Housecall Pro are July–August 2026.

Figure	Range	Source
Residential hourly rate	$75–150	Joist (Aug 2026), Fuse Service (Jan 2026: national $100–150)
Hourly, by region	Midwest $70–100, South $65–95, NE/West higher	Fuse Service 2026
Service call / trip fee	$79–200	Joist, Angi Aug 2026
Service call, first hour incl.	$100–200	Angi Aug 2026
Journeyman vs master (NJ)	$75–150 vs $100–200	Malfettone 2026
Material markup	30–50%, small parts 100–300%	Build-Folio, Contractor Growth Network, r/electricians consensus
Overhead as % of revenue	10–20% (up to ~45% SG&A for service shops)	Drawer AI, Profitability Partners 2026
Target gross margin, residential service flat rate	65–67%	Simpro, Profitability Partners 2026
Target net margin	10–20%	same
Billable hours per service electrician	1,200–1,500 / year	Mike Holt forum benchmark
Permit fees	$50–500, panel upgrade $200+	PermitFlow 2026

The formula

Loaded labor cost = wage × (1 + burden%)
Overhead per hour = monthly overhead ÷ billable hours per month
Break-even rate = loaded labor cost + overhead per hour
Your hourly rate = break-even ÷ (1 − target margin)
Flat price = hours × your hourly rate + materials × (1 + markup) + trip fee (+ permit, passed through)

Worked at the builder's defaults: $38 wage × 1.25 = $47.50, and $2,800 ÷ 110 = $25.45. Break-even $72.95. ÷ 0.80 = $91.19 an hour. A ceiling fan at two hours and $20 of material: 2 × 91.19 + 20 × 1.35 = $209.38, plus an $89 trip fee = $298. The market band is $312–580. The formula is honest about your costs, and the market is telling you those costs can carry more margin.

Why “wage times two” fails

It's the most common answer on r/electricians and it skips the truck. A $38 wage doubled is $76. Break-even at the numbers above is $73, so “times two” leaves three dollars an hour for profit, and nothing for the 50 hours a month you can't bill: driving, quoting, supply-house runs, callbacks, paperwork. Billable hours are the variable everyone overestimates. Count them for a month.

Flat rate or time and materials

Flat rate for anything you've done ten times. The customer gets one number, you get paid for being fast, and you can quote over the phone from the book.
T&M for troubleshooting and anything you can't scope. First hour at a premium, then hourly. Say so before you start.
Check your state. California's home-improvement contract rules (B&P §7159) require a stated total price on residential contracts over $500. Other states have written-estimate requirements. A YouTube claim that “T&M is illegal” is a California rule, not a national one.

Market bands for 35 residential jobs

Job totals as published for homeowners, August 2026. Labor hours and material costs in the builder are planning estimates. The kit has them editable.

Job	Market low	Market high	Source / note

Mistakes that cost the most

Pricing like an employee. “$55 an hour because I make $38” is an employee's math with a contractor's risk.
No trip fee. The drive, the quote and the parts run are real hours. $79–200 is normal and customers expect it.
Zero material markup. Thirty percent minimum. The part is cheap. Your time to get it isn't.
Quoting from the other guy. You don't know his costs, his license status, or whether he's still in business next year. Quote from yours.
Unlicensed work. Most states prohibit contracting without a license above a threshold (California: $500). This site is for licensed solo and small residential contractors.

Next step

Build your book in the builder. When you want it in a spreadsheet you own, with every hour and material editable, a quote tab, the printable price list and the objection scripts, that's the Electrician Pricing Kit ($49).